Some 8,200 federal police officers are on "maximum alert" in every state, the interior ministry said in a statement.

"More than 100,000 leaflets with recent pictures of the fugitive are being distributed at toll booths," it said.

"Special operations are being conducted to check hotels, hospitals and funeral homes."

Every private flight is being checked at the nation's airports, with a "rigorous inspection of passengers."

In his second escape in 14 years, Guzman broke out of prison through a 1.5-km tunnel that was dug under his cell's shower, a jailbreak that humiliated President Enrique Pena Nieto just 17 months after the kingpin's capture.

The Straits Times

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